On behalf of the Director General of Egyptian Customs, Mohamed Elalhawy, on 27 September 2012 the Egyptian delegation to the WCO Harmonised System Committee presented the Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya, with a colour papyrus copy of the Customs tariff applied in Egypt during the time of the Pharaohs some 2000 years BC. The original tablet is to be found in a museum in Egypt. Mikuriya thanked Egyptian Customs for this impressive gift, full of significance, which clearly illustrated the historic nature of Customs tariffs dating back more than 4 000 years. He expressed the hope that one day he would be able to see the original stone tablet in Egypt. The papyrus will be displayed at WCO headquarters.
